Saturday, January 23, 2010

YouVersion

YouVersion is both a program that adds to personal Bible study and an online community that can be place where a person can add their thoughts on a particular bible passage.  It is free to use both the program and to gain access to the online community.

The program itself is designed to be an online Bible reader.  The program gives the reader access to most of the popular versions such as NET, NIV, KJV, and the Message. (41 versions in 22 languages)  The program offers a wide variety of languages, but no Greek or Hebrew.  It is possible to view 2 or more versions at the time.  The reader is easy to navigate and the font is large and easy to read.  The Faith Comes From Hearing program which offers a variety of audio Bibles is integrated into the reader program as well. 

The online community is slanted towards mainstream non-denominational American culture.  Part of how the online community functions is by joining groups and by following your friends’ comments.  So it is possible that a person’s home church could set up a group and comment on the same scripture to form a study.  It does not appear that people are taking advantage of the online community and focusing on the personal devotional aspect. 

Bible Reading plans are offered by Christian organizations such as Bible Gateway and Blue Letter Bible.  It is possible to choose to do these plans and once a reading is finished it automatically crosses it off of the list that corresponds to the plan.

YouVersion offers a mobile program that I downloaded onto my iPod touch.  It is basically a Bible reader that is easy to search and read.  The Bible Reading Plans are found on the program and they automatically synch up your account on the website once you finished a reading.  The online community component is not found on the mobile program.  

I would recommend this program to people who are interested in reading or listening to the Bible online.  I would only recommend the online community to another person if they know others who are using it.  The program does not make it easy to meet new people. 
(DanC)
Note that there is support for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Java, and also a Mobile Web version.

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